African Federation
African Federation The African Federation is a country located on the continent of Africa. The African Federation's capital city is Alexandria. The nation is also commonly referred to as the African Union, or else is called the A.F. for short. History Most historians trace the beginnings of the African Federation's history back to the founding of the city of Alexandria in 331 BC. by Alexander the Great. Although the African Federation came into being in 1838, thousands of years after the founding of Alexandria, that city is considered to be the Federations cultural and economic capital, as well as its political capital; a situation which has its roots in the earliest chapters of the city's history. Cultural Impacts on Alexandria After Alexandria's founding in 331 BC., it came under control of several empires and nations in the centuries leading up to the founding of the A.F. As a result, The African Federation, through Alexandria, has been influenced by the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabic Coptic Christians, Arab Muslims, the Ottomans, the British, and, for a brief period in the 1800's, the French, under Napoleon Bonaparte. This makes the African Federation one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. Roots of the African Federation The African Federation traces its more immediate roots in mercantile organizations, most notably the British East India Trading Company. In the period between the sixteenth century, through to the early nineteenth century, the British East India Company fought a series of trade wars, including military conflicts, with its arch-rival, the Dutch East India Trading Company. The British, under the advice of the British East India Company, built a series of ports and outposts inside Alexandria, and the areas around the city, in order to make use of its strategic location in the Mediterranean. During this period, the British helped strengthen merchant organizations and other businesses they found useful in their wars against the Dutch East India Company. Businesses and trading organizations favored by the British included the Glasser's Guild, the Alexandria Shipping Company, the Merchant's Guild, the Alexandria Printer's Group, and the mighty Trading Company. In 1758, during the Seven Years War between the British and the French Empires, the British East India Company formed an official alliance with the guilds and business organizations of Alexandria, as well as those in Cairo and Thebes, the two other major cities in Egypt at the time. Together, they formed the North African Trading Union (not to be confused with Labor Unions, which would rise later), an alliance of business organizations which had the express goal of safeguarding their interests within North Africa and the Mediterranean. In 1759, the Lower Nile War was fought between the declining rulers of Egypt, and rebel forces which were heavily funded by the North African Trading Union. This new stage of the Seven Years War outlasted the conflict in Europe, lasting 12 years, in which hundreds of major battles were fought in Lower Egypt, and hundreds of thousands of people died. Eventually the rebels prevailed, and a new government was set up in 1771. Established as a Monarchy with Abdul Rahman al Rahmad as its leader, the new nation was called the Kingdom-of-Egypt-on-the-Delta; But in reality, the Kingdom was very corrupt, with strong businesses such as the Trading Company, and foreign companies like the British East India Company, controlling political decisions behind the scenes. The War of the Severance- 1801 to 1811 During the years between 1771 and 1799, the Kingdom-of-Egypt-on-the-Delta existed under the De-facto ''rule of the companies and guilds of the North African Trading Union, with its capital at Alexandria, though this rule was tenuous at best, as the King and his benefactors were forced to put down several rebellions and nine separate attempts at a coup-De-ta. Finally, in 1801, the Kingdom fell apart as it lurched in another decade long Civil War, called ''The War of the Severance. In 1801, the City of Alexandria rioted, and the King was forced to flee the city in favor of Cairo. A great purge began, as the rioters sought out everyone associated with the monarchy and executed them, including several guild members, or other members of the North African Trading Union. Finally, the City of Alexandria, under the leadership of Akil Sultan, established a Republic inspired by the newborn United States and the Republic of France, and raised a massive army by accepting volunteers from the city itself and by conscripting men from the farms and villages outside the city; eventually the Alexandria Home Guard, as it was known, reached 200,000 strong, at its height Meanwhile, al Rahmad, backed by the North African Trading Union and the British East India Trading Company, along with indirect support from the British Empire, gathered a similarly large, and significantly better disciplined and better equipped army, and the King declared war on the City of Alexandria; The War of the Severance had begun. The first major battle was the Battle of Manipura, in 1802. The year before, the Kingdom-of-Egypt-on-the-Delta had lost control over the three vital Delta regions; Manipura, Delta, and Pelusia, in a series of quick, relatively bloodless but complete, victories. The "Kings Army," as it was called, was to attempt to reclaim control of Manipura, as it was both a major breadbasket, a major harbor region, and was strategically close to Alexandria. The Alexandrian Guard sent an army of some 40,000 men to intercept the Kings Army of 70,000 strong. The two armies met at the Battle of Manipura, and in a stunning victory, the Alexandrian Guard carried to day, having inflicted 15,000 casualties on the Kings Army, while losing some 12,000 of their own men. A year later, however, the tide of the war seemed to turn at the Battle of Tanta, as the Alexandrian Guard attempted to overrun and occupy the town of Tanta, which controlled a major crossroads. The force of some 30,000 men was first repelled by the garrison there, before reinforcements arrived from Cairo. For three days, the two sides launched attacks and counter attacks, but neither managed to really dislodge the other until the third and final day of the battle, when the Kings Army double-flanked the Alexandrian Guard. The Guard fell back rapidly, and the retreat became a rout. At the end of the battle, 17,000 men had been killed on the Alexandrian side, while 2,000 were wounded and a similar number were missing. The Kings Army had had 60,000 men total, and lost 18,000 killed, 3,000 wounded and 4,000 missing respectively. For the next 9 years, the two sides waged one brutal battle after another upon each other, with the Kingdom-of-Egypt-on-the-Delta receiving substantial assistance from the North African Trading Union and the British Empire. Finally, the war came to a final turning point at the crucial Battle of Helwan, in which a force of about 20,000 Alexandrian Guard soldiers faced off against a much larger army of 50,000 men. In yet another outstanding and unexpected victory, the Alexandrian Guard drove the Kings Army off the field, allowing the Guard to control the vital roads to the south of Cairo. Soon after the Battle of Helwan, the siege of Al Jizah began, and after that city fell, the Kingdom-of-Egypt-on-the-Delta lost yet another major battle Al Mansura. Following this defeat, the British Empire finally cut off its flow of money and supplies to the Kingdom, and al Rahmad was forced to formally surrender to Akil Sultan, who had been elected as First Councilman of Alexandria. Immediately following the war, a new Republic of Egypt was established among what had once been the Kingdom-of-Egypt-on-the-Delta. A new Constitution was written, and Alexandria was established as the Capital City of the new nation. Although the Republic later fell apart, the later government of what is today the African Federation drew heavily from Republican government.